Louisville Hotels
Hotels in the city of Louisville are often useful for accommodation for tourists who require a short term vacation in the state. Many tourists may want to visit the city to see the landscapes, the scenery the rural or urban areas, the historic areas and the other tourist attractions. Some may want to see entertainment, culture, architecture and historic area of the city.
Louisville is Kentucky's largest city. It is ranked as either the 17th or 27th largest city in the United States depending on how the population is calculated (see Nomenclature, population, and ranking below). The settlement that became the City of Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France. Louisville is famous as the home of The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports: the Kentucky Derby, the widely watched first race of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
Louisville is situated in north-central Kentucky on the Kentucky-Indiana border at the only natural obstacle in the Ohio River, the Falls of the Ohio. Louisville is the county seat of Jefferson County. Because it includes counties in Southern Indiana, the Louisville metropolitan area is regularly referred to as Kentuckiana. A resident of Louisville is referred to as a Louisvillian. Although situated in a Southern state, Louisville is influenced by both Midwestern and Southern culture, and is commonly referred to as either the northernmost Southern city or the southernmost Northern city in the United States.
Louisville has been the site of many important innovations through history. Notable residents have included inventor Thomas Edison, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, newscaster Diane Sawyer, actor Tom Cruise, and writers Hunter S. Thompson and Sue Grafton. Notable events occurring in the city include the first public viewing place of Edison's light bulb, the first library open to African Americans in the South, and medical advances including the first human hand transplant, the first self-contained artificial heart transplant, and the development site of the first cervical cancer vaccine.
The first European settlement made in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark. Today, Clark is recognized as the founder of Louisville, and several landmarks are named after him.
Two
years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter
of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, whose
soldiers at the time were aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War. Early residents
lived in forts due to Indian raids, but were moving out by the late 1780s. In
1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition
across America at the Falls of the Ohio in Louisville.
The city attributes its early growth to the fact that river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had swelled to 7,000 and Louisville became an incorporated city. The city grew rapidly in its formative years.
Louisville had one of the largest slave trades in the United States before the Civil War and much of the city's initial growth is attributed to that trade. Louisville was the turning point for many enslaved blacks since Kentucky, although it was to be a border state in the Civil War, was nevertheless a slave state and crossing the Ohio River could lead to freedom in the North. Its significant black population and location on the Ohio River resulted in it becoming a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Louisville is located in the Bluegrass region, but the city has a greater affinity for its location on the Ohio River, which spurred Louisville's growth from an isolated camp site into a major shipping port. Much of the city is located on a very wide and flat flood plain surrounded by hill country on all sides. Much of the area was swampland and had to be drained as the city grew. In the 1840s most creeks were rerouted or placed in canals to prevent flooding and subsequent disease outbreaks.
The downtown business district of Louisville is located immediately south of the Ohio River, and southeast of the Falls of the Ohio. Major roads extend outwards from the downtown area to all directions, like the spokes of a wheel. The airport is located approximately 6.75 miles south of the downtown area. The industrial sections of town are located to the south and west of the airport, while most of the residential areas of the city are located to the southwest, south and east of downtown.
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the state of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west. Downtown Louisville is the oldest part of the city of Louisville, whose initial development was closely tied to the Ohio River. The largest early fort, Fort Nelson, was built in 1781 near what is today the corner of 7th and Main streets. Many early residents lived nearby after moving out of the forts by the mid-1780s, although little remains from of the earliest (mostly wood) structures.
Early plans of the city, such as William Pope's original plan in 1783, show a simple grid on an east/west axis along the river. The earliest streets, Main, Market and Jefferson retain their original names from the plan, while the smaller Green Street is now known as Liberty (it was renamed after Green Street acquired a seedy reputation due to its many burlesque theaters). Main Street was the city's initial commercial hub for nearly a century. By 1830 Louisville passed Lexington as Kentucky's largest city, with a population over 10,000. The steamboat era saw the opening of the Louisville and Portland Canal just west of downtown, and local commerce picked up further with the founding of banks and manufacturing. Most of Louisville's population was packed into downtown, which by this time stretched as far south as Prather Street (later renamed Broadway). Many still-remaining buildings reveal what the area was like at this time, with narrow, two to four-story buildings packing the streets.
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